Page 63 of The Shadow Sanctum

Again, my face heats, though this time embarrassment isn’t the cause. I feel my nipples tingle at the admission, and my hips suddenly feel restless.

“Well, I liked it.”

He nods. “I know.”

“I found you breathtakingly handsome even before I met you.”

“Your eyes are so striking, I almost broke character when I saw you in the sunlight.”

My smile falls as the urge to close my eyes comes over me. As if hiding them will somehow make him forget their demonic glow.

“I remember thinking you looked like an angel,” Sawyer says, his voice softer like he can read my mind. I tilt my head and wait for him to go on.

“I knew almost immediately that you were independent. Smart. And unsettlingly intuitive. I had a very good feeling you were seeing right through me.”

“Well.” I raise my shoulders. “Those who create the game know the rules. I knew who you were, why you were here, what you⁠—”

“I still get that feeling,” he says, his voice low. Soft. Serious.

My shoulders fall into place. All I can do is stare into Sawyer’s eyes, as mesmerizing as the day I met him.

I remember it all so clearly, but somehow, it doesn’t feel real. Like it couldn’t have happened the way it did because there’s no way I could ever hide the feelings he gives me. I could never hide from him again.

“Any more secrets?” I whisper, though I know the list is endless. And meaningless. And frankly, unwanted.

Instead of answering, he takes my face in his hands and kisses me, softly this time. One gentle caress of his lips before he pulls back and looks me in the eyes. “No more secrets.”

My heart swells so big it feels like it pushes into my throat. I place my cold hands over his just to feel his warmth.

No more secrets.

I don’t say it aloud, but I pledge it to myself. And I mean it. Right now, right here, I mean it.

“Now let’s go back to my room,” Sawyer says, lips curving. “There’s something I want to show you.”

CHAPTER 20

LUNA

Sawyer doesn’t seem to notice the looks I get from the Keepers standing guard outside the Grove.

One frowns. The other narrows his eyes, his jaw tensing before he looks away.

We pass two female Cultivators in the hall who are silent and rigid. But their whispers carry as soon as we’re steps apart.

I walk with my hood off and my back straight, but all I can think about are the consequences of being seen with me.

Will they come to Sawyer’s room in search of me, their insults and grievances strung back like arrows? Will they turn their backs on him already, when he’s only just been granted acceptance?

Father has made things perfectly clear. No one is allowed to touch me. The penalty is death.

No one is even allowed to challenge me, a practice that has diffused the tension in our society since before I was born. I have no memory of a single instance where he’s granted anyone such immunity. Cowardice and hypocrisy, that is our legacy.

But Sawyer’s… How will they see him once they know what he’s capable of feeling for me?

What is he capable of feeling for me?

I blink away my thoughts when Sawyer opens the door to his room and steps to the side. I meet his eyes and try to do a quick read, but his expression is indiscernible. Not blank, but not obvious.